The Piano
by Unfourtanate
Summary: Nezumi finally shows his slightly softer side to a very surprised Shion. Nezumi/Shion, NezuShi, shonen-ai.


**Hello, readers! I'm taking a short break from writing Love Beats Everything to bring you a little one-shot that I just wrote. But Love Beats Everything's final chapter is on its way, so don't worry! Now, enjoy my [badly-written] No. 6 fanfiction.**

* * *

><p>The sun was already rising through the muggy air as Nezumi made his way home from the theatre. He skimmed over a few boulders before entering the scrapped field that led to his home – his <em>shared <em>home. Nezumi shuddered; it was unnerving to think of his home as someone else's as well. He disliked it, actually. He sighed and looked up at the brightening skies; judging by the light, it was already around six in the morning.

"Shion's probably pissing himself in worry," he grumbled. He kicked aside an abandoned car tyre before brushing aside the tall grass that partially-hid the stairs that led down to the tunnel that he called his home. It was dark down there – Shion was obviously still in bed.

Nezumi dragged his feet down the steps and he suddenly stood on something warm and furry. He lost his balance and hit his elbow against the tunnel's stone wall roughly as a dog started to bark loudly from behind him. "Damn it!"

The brown mutt he'd just tripped over continued to bark at him, baring its fangs as it growled lowly.

"Shut up," snapped Nezumi, pushing the dog aside. The dog whined and scurried away, its tail between its legs. Nezumi sighed – it'd come back later. Shion always fed it old scraps of food, even though Nezumi often told him not to do it.

"But he's my friend!" Shion would always protest.

_Friend._ Nezumi snorted. _Out here, friends are meaningless._

A door suddenly opened and a familiar head of fluffy white hair popped into the tunnel.

"Nezumi? Is that you?"

"In the flesh, Shion." He brushed past his roommate and made his way into his room. His bed was still made-up – Shion absolutely refused to sleep in it, even when Nezumi wasn't home. He always insisted to sleep on the hard, lumpy sofa instead. Nezumi shrugged off his leather jacket and turned to Shion, who stood in the dim lantern light. His hair was as messy as ever, and his old cardigan hung off his shoulder. It was clear that he had only just woken up.

"Did you trip over -?"

"Your friend?" said Nezumi. He laughed. "Yeah. Hurt my elbow, too." He held up his arm, where trickles of blood were seeping across his skin.

Shion looked horrified. "You were bitten?"

"No, I –" Nezumi shut his mouth quickly. He didn't want to admit he'd _fallen_ – how pathetic would that sound? "Never mind, it's nothing."

He headed over to his bed and sat down, intending to sleep right there and then. Shion, however, refused to be distracted.

"But you're hurt!" he exclaimed. He picked up his blanket and hurried over to where Nezumi sat. Before Nezumi could stop him, Shion was wrapping the blanket around his elbow.

"You worry too much," sighed Nezumi. He leaned against the wall. "It's just a graze."

"It could get infected," murmured Shion. "You could get ill."

"What a tragedy that would be! I would die, leaving you all on your own to fend for yourself."

"Don't joke about things like that!" said Shion. He sounded hurt.

Nezumi's expression softened. "Lighten up," he said quietly. He gently tugged his arm from Shion's grasp and showed him his arm. "See? It's nothing."

Shion looked down at the blood-streaked blanket and bit his lip. "I know, but it could –"

Nezumi pulled Shion down and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Calm down!" he exclaimed with a laugh. "Man, Shion, you really need to stop worrying so much about me."

Shion appeared to be too surprised by Nezumi's touch to say anything. The two lay on the bed in complete silence for a few minutes, staring up at the rotting ceiling. Nezumi felt his lids grow heavy – he had been busy performing all night, and the fatigue was really starting to set in. He closed his eyes and sighed contentedly, before suddenly feeling Shion's hand grasp his.

"Shion?" he murmured quietly, not opening his eyes.

"It's like the first day we met," explained Shion. Although Nezumi couldn't see him, he could almost hear the blush in his voice. "You and me, holding hands all those years ago."

"Mm."

"D'you remember?"

Nezumi opened his eyes. "Of course I do," he said softly.

"You were hurt back then, too," continued Shion. Nezumi sighed and sat up, shaking Shion's hand from his grasp.

"For God's sake, Shion, my arm's fine!" He stood up and strode away from the bed and towards the piano at the other side of the room. He sat down heavily on the rickety old stool and held his fingers to the ivory keys. "If my arm was really hurt, then how would I be able to do this?"

He pressed down on the keys and played a complex melody of rising and falling notes, his fingers whirling across the piano and dancing on the black and white keys. In the corner of his eye, he watched Shion sit up and stare at him wide-eyed, mesmerised by the sound of the piano. Nezumi continued to play as Shion stood up and made his way towards the piano until he was standing behind Nezumi, leaning over his shoulder as he gazed at Nezumi's quick-moving hands.

"Wow!" he breathed, as Nezumi finally stopped playing and drew his fingers away from the keys. "That was... amazing! We were discouraged from listening to classics, but my mother used to play me some Mozart on her old piano. Was that Mozart? Or Bach? Beethoven?"

"It was Nezumi. I composed it." Nezumi couldn't help but smirk as the impressed expression on Shion's face turned into one of disbelief.

"You composed that?" he said, his scarlet eyes wide as his eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hair. "Wow, Nezumi! You're amazing! Can you teach me?"

"To play the piano?" Nezumi cocked an eyebrow. "Have you ever played an instrument before?"

"I used to have a harmonica," mused Shion, "but I lost it when my mother and I got relocated."

"No offense, but if all you had was a harmonica, then you're probably shit." Nezumi suddenly bit his tongue. Relocated? He lost his harmonica when he got relocated? He looked down. Shion got relocated because of him.

"I'll teach you," he said quietly. "Here, sit next to me."

"But there's not enough room –"

Nezumi grabbed Shion by the wrist and pulled him onto his lap. He coiled his arms around his chest and led Shion's hands to the keys. "Pay attention, now."

He guided Shion's fingers across the piano, but Shion was struggling to concentrate. His face was flushed bright red, but he tried his best nonetheless.

"I was right," murmured Nezumi with a quiet laugh. "You're shit."

"Sh-shut up!"

Shion turned to scowl at Nezumi. Nezumi looked at his frustrated, reddened face and suddenly brushed his lips against his pouted ones. Shion's expression immediately turned into a surprised one, but he didn't resist. Nezumi's hands slowly glided up Shion's back as they kissed, and he brushed his long fingers through Shion's silky hair. Shion turned on Nezumi's lap until he was face to face with Nezumi. He wrapped his arms around Nezumi's neck and pulled himself closer. They continued to kiss for a moment longer, before Shion started to resist. He pulled himself away.

"Are you kissing me as an apology for saying I'm a bad piano-player?" he asked, looking up at Nezumi.

Nezumi smirked. "No, you're still shit. I'm kissing you because I want to."

He pressed his lips against Shion's again, and this time, Shion didn't resist. He closed his eyes, and allowed Nezumi to guide him again.


End file.
